


Absalom

by kelex



Category: Smallville
Genre: Angst, Drama, First Time, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-03-15
Updated: 2002-03-15
Packaged: 2017-11-01 07:49:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/353970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kelex/pseuds/kelex
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A shocking family secret threatens to rip the Luthor Clan apart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Absalom

## Absalom

by Kel

<http://crystalshard24.tripod.com/smallville.html>

* * *

Absalom  
By Kel 

_Metropolis, twenty-two years ago._

A young man stood outside the three-story nearly-palatial estate on the only non-business-zoned area of Metropolis. He had a small cache of smooth pebbles in his pocket, and he was carefully hurling them at the second floor corner window. After about ten pebbles had bounced off the glass, a beautiful young woman with Rapunzel-like locks of luxuriant red hair stuck her head out the window. "What do you think you're doing here? If Lionel catches you he'll kill us both!" She could not stop the smile from spreading across her full lips, though, as she caught sight of his exuberance. 

"Alexandra, I don't care! I don't care what Lionel Luthor says or does! I love you, I'm not going to let your brother keep us apart!" He went closer to the eave of the house. "Are you coming down, or do I have to come up and get you?" 

"You wouldn't!" she hissed out the window. 

"Watch me!" Dusting his hands on the side of his jeans, the young romeo jumped up and pulled himself to the overhanging roof of the porch that circled the entire house. Then grabbing the gutter pipe, he swung himself up and grabbed the iron trellis that was bolted into the brick of the wall. He quickly scaled the trellis and then hoisted himself into Alexandra's bedroom window. "Hi, darlin'." 

"I cannot believe you just did that!" Alexandra hissed, even as she went into his arms. Their kiss was sweet and deep, and before it ended, her lover's hands had slipped inside her nightgown and were caressing her breasts as he whispered into her ear. 

"Alexandra Luthor, will you marry me? Right now, tonight, this minute? Let me take you away from here, away from your bastard brother and his obsession with the family name, to somewhere we can just be together." His thumbs teased her nipples as his tongue licked down her throat. "Lexa, please. Let me take you away." Then he pulled his hands away and reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a worn velvet box. Inside was an antique diamond solitaire. Alexandra gasped when she saw the stone. His eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled. "Is that a yes?" 

"Yes, that's a yes! " Alexandra threw her arms around her fiancee. "Yes, I'll marry you!" 

The happy young man swung Alexandra around and then sat her back on her feet as he knelt in front of her and slid the solitaire onto her hand. "I love you, Lexa." 

"I love you, darling." Their mouths met again in a deep, passionate kiss, and soon their bodies were twined together on Alexandra's bed. 

* * *

Lionel watched with a slowly building rage through his secret peephole. That bastard was nowhere near the caliber of man that his sister deserved, and his guts twisted in on themselves as the man touched Lionel's precious Lexa, called her Lionel's pet name for her, pressed the ring onto her finger and then made love to her on her virginal white bed. The man was small time, less than nothing in the scheme of the universe, and he would pay for soiling Lionel's precious Lexa. 

After their lovemaking, he listened as they made plans to meet at midnight by the railway tracks, to jump the first train leaving Metropolis. Then his blood ran cold as Lexa spoke of breaking into the Luthor family vault, bringing enough of her inheritance to get them started in a new place far away from Lionel. And then, the last hot coal of Lionel's rage burnt out to be replaced by a cold fury when Lexa spoke again. 

* * *

"I can't wait to get away from Lionel," she said softly. "He scares me, darling. I think sometimes he wants to hurt me, but he never does because he loves me." 

"We're going to have a beautiful life together, Lexa. I promise you that. Without Lionel." Her fiance caressed her again and kissed her throat. "I better go before he finds me here." 

"I'll be waiting for you tonight," she said, pressing one last kiss to his lips before he slid out the window and off the roof, the same way as he'd come in. 

* * *

Lionel quietly loaded his pistol, and then when his sister's lover was gone, he walked into her bedroom where she was stripping the bed of soiled sheets. "Lexa." 

She whirled, shocked that he would intrude, and in her shock, she forgot her nakedness. "Lionel! What are you doing in my room? Get out!" 

"What am I doing here? The question, my beautiful Lexa, is what are you doing in here?" He indicated her ring with his gun. "Who gave you the sparkler, sister?" 

She clutched her ringed finger to her chest and only then realized her nakedness. She reached for the robe flung over the foot of the bed, but Lionel stopped her, his free hand gripping her arm in a bruising grip. "Lionel! Let me go!" 

"What, so you can go with that low-born bastard? Whelp more bastards and dilute the proud bloodline that you carry in your veins?" 

"How did you know?" she demanded, her hands moving to cover her stomach. "I didn't even tell him!" 

"Do you truly think that I didn't own Dr. Frakes, Lexa? As soon as you left her office she told me. She didn't tell me who the father was, because she said you didn't tell her. Shall I guess?" He gestured to the open window with the gun. "It's his." Then he pointed the gun at her stomach. "Isn't it?" 

"Yes," she squeaked out, terrified and sick. Lionel was threatening her and her baby. "It's his baby." 

Lionel backhanded her, and she fell onto the pile of soiled linens. "Your affair with him is over, Lexa. As of this moment." 

"I love him, Lionel!" 

Lionel pointed the gun at Lexa. "Do you want your lover to live?" 

"You wouldn't." Her voice was a horrified whisper. 

"Wouldn't I?" His eyes were coldly resolute. 

Lexa crumpled in on herself, sobbing her lover's name, her arms around her stomach. "Oh, my darling. Oh--" 

The gun went off, and Lexa screamed as plaster dust coated her face. "Mention his name and I won't miss," Lionel said coldly. "Burn those sheets. Clean yourself up--you stink of him. When I get back, I want you properly dressed as befits a Luthor woman." Then his rage seemed to pass as he pocketed the gun and went to crouch beside Lexa's naked body. "Don't worry, sweet Lexa, I will take care of everything for you." Tenderly he kissed her forehead and drew her to her feet. She allowed it, too terrified to resist him. He slipped the diamond ring off her finger and pocketed that as well. "I'll be back, I promise." That promise made, Lionel left the room, and the petrified Lexa dropped back onto the bed, sobbing piteously. 

* * *

Lionel stopped only long enough to replace the single spent round in his pistol and then took a duffel bag from the supply closet. Opening his personal safe, he pulled out ten banded packets of $100 bills and threw them into the bag. A consolation prize for the simpleton. Throwing the bag over his shoulder, Lionel slipped the gun into his waistband and went to meet the man and send him on his way. 

At midnight, Lionel found him waiting by the rails, waiting by the rails and contempt gripped his heart when the other man whirled at the sound of his approach and whispered, "Lexa?" 

"Not quite," Lionel said, stepping out of the shadows. "She changed her mind." 

"Lionel!" Lexa's lover took a step back. "No, she wouldn't. She loves me. She wanted to come with me." 

Lionel said nothing, only flipped the diamond ring to land at the man's feet. "Alexandra asked that I return that to you. She was... regrettably overwhelmed in the moment when she accepted and asked me to convey her sincere apologies to you for getting your hopes up." 

The rejected lover bent and picked up the ring, studying the facets in the moonlight. He would not let this cruel bastard see him shed tears. "You're lying," he accused again. "Lexa would never say those things." 

"Believe what you will. She said to give this to you too, and... how did Lexa say it? Oh yes. 'Start your perfect life.'" Lionel threw the money-filled bag, and the bastard picked it up and looked into it. 

"I don't want it." 

"Do yourself a favor, take the money and go. Lexa doesn't want anything more to do with you. She doesn't want to see you. Just... go." Lionel pasted a worried look on his face. "Seeing you will only upset her, and you definitely don't want to do that, do you? It could be very... dangerous to her fragile health." Lionel turned so that the moonlight bounced off the silver plating of the pistol. 

The younger man saw the pistol in Lionel's waistband and felt ill at the not-so-subtle threat. Many thoughts jumbled in his mind, the main one being _leave before he hurts Lexa._ Sadly, he picked up the duffel with a faint air of revulsion and stuffed it on top of his bag as he swung himself into the nearest car. "Tell her... I love her. And goodbye." 

* * *

_Nine Months Later_

Lionel paced in the waiting room as Alexandra was taken back to the birthing suites. She had not been herself since the other man had left her, and Lionel was worried. He had refused to acknowledge his own part in compelling her lover to leave--in fact, he'd almost persuaded himself that it had never happened. All Lionel's reality consisted of was the fact that the bastard had left Lexa alone and pregnant, and she had slowly wasted away. Lionel loathed him for hurting his precious Lexa. 

A shrill scream that Lionel knew was Lexa's ripped through his concentration, and he bullied his way into the sterile room. The scream was horrible, full of pain, and it was at that moment he knew there was something terribly wrong. "What's happening?" he demanded of the blood-covered doctor. 

"She's too small, too fragile, the baby's tearing her apart inside," he babbled as he dangled from Lionel's fists. 

"Then cut the brat out!" he roared. 

"It's too late for that! She has to deliver him or they'll both die!" 

"I don't care about the child; I want Alexandra to live." 

The doctor was afraid to look Lionel in the eyes. "It's too late for that, Mr. Luthor." 

Lionel shoved the doctor out of the way, and went to Lexa's side. "My precious Lexa." 

"Get... away... Lionel." She spat the words out between cries of pain from the harsh delivery. 

"I love you, Lexa," Lionel implored, holding her hand in his. 

"Hate... you!!" The last word was ripped from her with a scream, mingled with the cry of a newborn babe. "hate... you." Her last words were a death rattle, imprecations of hate towards the man who had destroyed her life. A gout of bright blood gushed from between her legs in place of afterbirth, and then nothing but the sound of Lionel's bitter weeping mingled with the sound of a baby's cries. 

* * *

Lionel and his lawyer walked out of the courtroom, followed by a wet-nurse carrying a newborn infant. "Mr. Luthor?" asked the frightened lawyer. "Mr. Luthor, I hate to bring this up, but there are papers to be filed and the birth certificate to fill out." He could not believe that Lionel was here only hours after his sister's death and the child's birth. But the arrangements had been set into motion at the hospital, and there was no turning back the machinations. 

"So?" 

"The child needs a name, Mr. Luthor, and I need to know who to put as the father." 

Lionel's stare was icy cold as he looked at the lawyer. "The child. The child will be named Alexander Joseph Luthor. The father--will remain unnamed." The lawyer departed, and Lionel turned to the wet-nurse. "Nell." 

"Yes, Lionel?" Nell Potter came to stand beside Lionel, the newly-named Alexander held to her breast as he sucked greedily. Her own child--hers and Lionel's--had miscarried only days before the birth of Alexander, and she was happy to be able to suckle the child for Lionel. 

"From this moment, the child belongs to me and my wife. Not Alexandra, not the father, but to me." 

"Yes, Lionel." She knew him too well to deny the implicit threat in his tone. He would easily kill her. 

"And never speak my sister's name again. Ever." 

"I understand." 

Lionel reached down and took the boy from Nell's grasp and held him aloft. "You took my sweet Lexa from me, child, and for that I will never forgive you." With that, he passed the crying child back to Nell, who quieted him with more milk. 

* * *

_Smallville, Twenty One Years Later_

"Clark, blow out your candles and make a wish, man, or this place is gonna turn into a fire hazard!" Pete Ross was standing behind Clark with sunglasses on, reeling in faked blindness. 

"Oh, so funny... not." At the end of the long table, Clark lifted his eyes to meet Lex's. Lex curved his mouth into a sexy smile, and Clark fisted his hand under the table as he blew out all seventeen candles at once. 

Pete, Chloe and Lana clustered around him, congratulating him, while Whitney stayed at the back of the pack glowering. He had warmed up to Clark lately, but that still didn't mean they had to be best friends. Lex just watched quietly from the other end of the table. He couldn't wait until Clark's friends were gone, and it was just the two of them. He had a special present for Clark planned. He had waited as long as he could stand, and Clark had done everything in his power to make it difficult, but they'd made it. Tonight would be the first time in the months since they'd been attracted to each other that Lex would allow himself the freedom of acting on it. 

And even as Clark was in the midst of his friends, his eyes sought out Lex's in some communion, seeking a reason to keep the faade of complacency up instead of shoving them all out the door to be with Lex. Lex dropped his own mask for a few moments, letting Clark see the need and the desire that was boiling inside him. Then he slid it back into place, letting only the smile linger as he watched Clark hurry and shoo his friends out of the mansion and into the waiting limo. "Finally!" 

Lex came up behind Clark and wrapped his arms around Clark's waist. "Time for my present." 

Clark clasped his hands over Lex's. "Yeah, it is. Come on." But instead of tugging Lex towards the bedroom, he took Lex to the garage. 

"Clark, I know you have a thing for my cars, but I didn't think you were serious about wanting to be fucked on the hood of my Ferrari." 

"I am, but not right now. Right now's for something different." 

"Kinky." 

"Lex, be serious." Clark turned, and all amusement was gone from his face. 

Lex sobered quickly upon seeing Clark's expression. "What is it, Clark?" He and Clark were standing by the mangled Porsche. 

Clark put his hands on the metal chassis. "Lex... I have something to tell you about that night." 

"The night you saved my life?" 

"Yeah. That night." 

"Whatever it is, you can tell me." Lex put his hand on Clark's back, shocked and frightened by the steel tension in the boy's frame. "Please?" 

Clark closed his eyes, shutting off the flow of tears that threatened to spill out at Lex's quiet plea. Lex had never asked him 'please' before. "Lex, before I say anything else... know that I love you." 

"I know, Clark," Lex reassured him. He moved to wrap his arms around Clark's waist again, but the young man drew away. "Don't pull away from me." 

"I have to," he said. He climbed to perch on the hood of the car, out of Lex's reach, and then wrapped his arms around his knees. "I... Jesus, this is hard." He looked up at Lex. "You've known I've been hiding something all along," Clark said quietly, and Lex just nodded, sensing the monumental nature of the moment. "Well... if you still want to know, I'll tell you." 

Lex climbed carefully onto the hood and sat beside Clark, allowing their bodies to touch but refraining from embracing him. "Do you want me to know, Clark?" 

"More than anything, Lex. I'm tired of having this... thing between us, but I'm scared." Clark's voice hitched on the last word. "Scared of..." 

"Me?" 

"No! God, Lex, no. Not you. Just... what you'll do. What you'll think of me. Maybe that you'll hate me for hiding it so long." 

Lex ached for the misery etched openly on Clark's face. He took Clark's hand in his, twining their fingers together and resting it on his knee. "Clark, I'm still here. Your secret hasn't made me want to leave you; you've always had it and I'm still here. The revelation won't drive me away." 

Clark's fingers tightened around Lex's. "You did hit me, Lex." 

Lex's smooth brow furrowed. "I couldn't have hit you, Clark." In response, Clark slid down the hood and into the indention made by his body the night of the accident. "Oh my God." He looked up at Clark, expression blank. "What else?" 

The miserable teen could not speak; he took Lex by the arm and picked him up as though he was nothing, and in a burst of super-speed, they had left the mansion behind and were in the deserted fields beside the castle. "I can see through things," he whispered. "I'm just learning now to control these things." 

Lex couldn't speak for a moment. He blinked several times, verifying the things that he'd just seen. And then he blinked again, looking at Clark. Beautiful, miserable Clark, who was terrified that sharing his secret had been the wrong thing to do. "I thought for sure I'd hit you, and then I told myself I couldn't have," he said softly. "My guardian angel is... a mutant?" 

"There's more, Lex. The meteors? I fell out of the sky with those meteors. My pod is in the storm cellar of our barn." He reached out and ran his hand over the smooth pate he loved so much. "This is my fault. I'm not... even human, Lex, I can't be your guardian angel." Clark curled in on himself, sitting in a small ball at the base of a nearby tree. 

Lex wanted to be angry with Clark, completely infuriated. But the sheer misery of Clark's expression, the little boy lost fears that radiated from him in waves broke through Lex's angry resolve. He studied his young lover, rocking almost imperceptibly back and forth, keening in agonizing, almost-silent cries. Moving softly, Lex crouched beside him and wrapped his arms around Clark's shoulders, rocking with him. He pressed warm kisses on the back of Clark's neck, touched his hair, anything that he could think of to soothe the pain Clark was so obviously in. "You have to be my guardian angel, Clark," Lex whispered softly. "Just as surely as you were sent to the Kents, you were sent to me. My protector from above." 

Clark sobbed loudly once as he turned to Lex and buried his face in Lex's chest. "I didn't want to lie to you, Lex, but Mom and Dad said I couldn't tell anybody, but... I couldn't stand not telling you any longer." Lex nodded, running his fingers through Clark's hair as he emptied his guilt. "You said once, we would have a future together, that we had a destiny together... I couldn't start that with lies and secrets between us, Lex, I just couldn't." 

Lex turned Clark's face up to him and used the corner of his purple shirt to wipe the tears away. Then without breaking eye contact, Lex kissed Clark softly, possessively, tasting the salty tears on his lips. When he broke the kiss, Clark was still looking up at him, the edge of fear softened but still there. "I meant what I said, Clark. We do have a destiny together. And it starts tonight... my love," he added softly at the end. "And I do love you, Clark. I understand the need to keep your secret, especially one like this. And I trust you. I know that because you told me this, you won't lie to me about anything else." 

Clark's arms tightened around Lex's ribs, being oh so careful not to squeeze hard enough to hurt. "Lex... oh, Lex," Clark whispered, almost chanting his lover's name in relief. "I was so scared you'd hate me, tell me to go away and never see you again." He clung to Lex tightly. "I love you, Lex, thank you for not hating me." 

Lex just let Clark cry out his misery, his fingers carding through the thick raven tresses. Ever so often he whispered responses to Clark, not enough to stop him but enough to reassure. "I could never hate you, Clark... There are no other secrets now." Lex shivered in the cool Kansas night, and Clark looked up at him. "I'm okay, it's just a little cold out here." 

"Oh, damn! Lex, of course, here!" He scrabbled at his jacket, dragging the outer garment off and then shoving it at Lex. "You should have said something." 

Lex welcomed the warmth of Clark's jacket as it swallowed him up. He felt lost in the heat of the coat, the smell of Clark surrounding him. "You needed my attention more," Lex said simply. 

Even through his tears, Clark's mortified blush showed through. "Lex, damn, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...monopolize you like that!" 

_Surreal,_ is the only thing that Lex could think of. _He just told me he is alien to this world, and then he is upset that I couldn't think of a minor thing like me being cold. I love you, Clark, you are my innocent farmboy angel._ He took a deep breath. "Clark, it's all right. It's not every day that I find out the man I love is not of this world and has special abilities," he pointed out to the scared young man. "I admit, I'm good, but not even my father could take that news with perfect aplomb." Clark's laughter was a welcome balm to Lex's ears, as was the mortified blush. After all the secrets, he was still Clark. 

Clark ducked his head and managed to peek up at Lex. "You're really not angry?" 

Lex shook his head. "I can't be angry with your trust, Clark, and that's what you gave me tonight. More precious than any gift I can give you." He looked at the blush that stained Clark's cheeks again. "How about we go back to the castle and sit in front of the fireplace and get warm?" 

"Okay. Lex, I'm sorry, I know you hate being manhandled--" 

"For once, I won't argue. I'll just take the Clark Kent Express." Clark picked him up and Lex nestled close, inhaling a deep breath of Clark's soap as he rested his head on Clark's shoulder. "Home, James, and don't spare the horses." 

Clark tightened his hold on Lex and ran, top speed bringing them back to the garage in no time. Once there, Clark sat Lex on his feet and followed him into the castle and to the fireplace in the main hall. Lex wrapped himself in Clark's jacket and lay down on the fur rug in front of the fireplace, and Clark fed it from the wood by the fire until the blaze was roaring. Lex's eyes were following every movement he made, and Clark dropped to his knees in front of Lex. Lex smiled and then rolled to the side, putting Clark behind him. The young man got the message and lay down behind Lex, and immediately Lex spooned himself to Clark's body. He felt Clark's arm come around his waist, and then his head was pillowed by Clark's other arm, and suddenly Lex was warm. Not just outside, but warm inside, in places that he hadn't even realized were cold. Clark's breath was teasing the back of his neck, and he finally was happy. He knew that there was nothing that could happen to destroy the happiness he felt this moment, in Clark's arms. 

* * *

The next morning, Clark woke in front of the dying fire. Lex was still spooned against him, wrapped in Clark's coat from the previous night. Carefully, Clark eased himself out from under Lex and fed the fire back to roaring life. When he turned back around, Lex was smiling at him. Clark knelt beside him. "It's early," he whispered. 

"How early?" 

Clark looked at his watch in the firelight. "Four." He leaned over to kiss Lex softly, and the ease between them was surprising. "I've got to go. If Mom and Dad catch me out... they'll kick my ass." 

Lex nodded in reluctant understanding. "I'll pick you up this afternoon..." Lex let his voice trail off, not sure what else he wanted to say. 

Clark nodded in understanding; he knew what Lex was thinking. "I've only got a few chores to do, and I'm caught up on my homework; I'll be back after dinner." Lex's hand slid around the back of his neck, and Clark found himself pulled down into a kiss. "I love you, Lex." 

"One of these days, Clark, we're going to go somewhere, I promise you that." Lex didn't know where that vow came from, but he meant it. "Somewhere it can be you and me, and the rest of the world be damned." 

Lex expected protest and was surprised when Clark agreed. "I'd like that. Like somewhere we could just be... Clark and Lex." Lex stole another kiss, and then watched as his not-quite-yet lover ran from the castle and back to the Kent farm. 

Clark looked at the clock in his Fortress of Solitude. 4:05 in the morning. Less than five minutes and he was already missing Lex. Feeling totally energized and unable to sleep, Clark turned on the super-speed, and by the time his parents woke at five thirty, all the chores that his father would normally do had been done already, as well as Clark's. Jonathan looked around the barn in amazement, at the animals eating their hay, at the clean floor, at the stack of wood that towered half Jonathan's height. Even Clark's afternoon chores were done; the trash emptied and composted, the fertilizer spread, everything that Jonathan could have asked to be done was done. 

Inside the house, Martha found a note taped to the refrigerator door. _Mom, love you. Did the chores this morning and then went for a run. I'll get to school, don't worry. See you at dinner, and then I'm going to Lex's with Chloe--she wants to interview him. I took the pizza for breakfast. Love, Clark_

Martha studied the note on the fridge. It was in Clark's handwriting, but it just didn't seem like her son. "Jonathan?" she called out the window, and in a few moments, he was on the porch. "Jonathan, look at this." 

Jonathan scanned the note, and his stomach did the familiar flip it did whenever Lex's name was mentioned. He'd told Martha only the barest details about Lexa, and he hated Lionel and by extension, Lionel's son, for the wreck his life had been before Martha. "I know, Martha, he already cleaned the barn out and did everything that he could possibly do." He passed the note back to Martha. "I'll call the school and have him call home at lunch." 

But Martha was still worried. "You don't think Lex is..." 

"Clark's a good boy, Martha. We raised him right. We got no choice but to trust that." 

* * *

At six-thirty, Clark was back at the castle, backpack over his shoulder and a carrying a duffel bag of clean clothes. He didn't bother knocking, just entered the side and scaled the walls until he was outside of Lex's bedroom. He sunk his fingers into the windowsill, opened it, and climbed inside. "Lex!" Lex didn't stir, and Clark dropped his bags on the floor and stripped. "Lexy," he purred as he slid into the bed beside Lex. 

Lex woke as the bed dipped slightly. "Clark?" He turned over to find the naked boy in his bed. "What are you doing here, not that I'm going to argue." He rolled into Clark's side, his hand resting on Clark's bare chest. 

"Hoping for my birthday present," he said naughtily, sliding his hand down Lex's back. "We got kind of... interrupted last night." 

Lex nibbled lightly at Clark's throat. "Don't you--" 

"Don't say it, Lex, okay? Just... God, for once, let me be a bad boy! I don't want to think about school or my parents or anything else but lying here in bed with you all day, making love and touching you and learning everything you've got to teach me." 

Lex growled against Clark's throat. "You're not making this easy on me, Clark." 

"I don't want it to be easy, Lex. I want it to be so hard for you to tell me to get out of here and go catch the school bus that you think a part of you is ripping out, cause that's how I feel just thinking about leaving right now." 

"You know it would be best for you to go." Lex was lost, and they both knew it. 

"But it'll be better for us if I stay," Clark said, nibbling on Lex's shoulder. "Just today, Lex, I swear. Tomorrow will be soon enough to go back to good ol' Clark. Today, let me be your Clark." 

The sweet plea to belong to Lex was what finally broke his resolve. He didn't give a damn about Clark's education at that moment, not about the Kents, not about Clark's friends. He didn't even give a damn about LuthorCorp. All he cared about was the beautiful young man in his arms. "All right, Clark, you win. Just for the day, just us." He gently pushed Clark away from his shoulder. "But I have to make a phone call first." At Clark's protest, he put his finger over the boy's lips. "I'm going to clear my schedule so I don't have to leave either." The smiling lips that sucked his finger showed their approval. Clark's teeth nipped the finger gently before letting it go, and he nestled behind Lex as the businessman called in on his cell phone. "Celia, yes. It's Lex. Cancel everything today. Yes, I know how hard it was for the governor to work me into his schedule, I don't care. Cancel it, clear my schedule, and don't call me unless the world is ending." Lex actually paused and listened to her next protest/question. "Yes, that goes for my father as well. If Lionel Luthor calls... you don't know where the hell I am. Well, if he fires you then I will hire you back. And if he shows up, then bar the fucking door against him. Thank you. Good day." Lex hung up the phone, took one look at Clark, and made another phone call to the principal. "Good morning, Mr. Kwan. Yes, it's Lex." He put his hand over Clark's mouth to muffle the surprised noise coming out of it. "Yes, I'm calling about a student at the high school, Clark Kent. Clark's a friend of mine, and I wanted to make sure that he's in school today." A pause. "No, I'm sorry, you seem to be misunderstanding me. I know that Clark attended his classes today." Then a small smile spread across Lex's face as Clark started licking his palm. "Now you see my point. Thank you very much, Mr. Kwan." Lex hung up and then tried to look sternly down at Clark, who was at that moment sucking Lex's fingers in his mouth. Clark looked up, his puppy-dog eyes dancing with excitement. "Now that it's taken care of," Lex said, positioning himself over Clark's prone body, "I think we have other lessons to take care of." 

"I'm a... fast learner, Lex," he said with a teasing smile. 

"Are you now?" Lex teased, leaving his hands on Clark's shoulders. "So what have you learned lately?" 

Clark moved in a flash, and suddenly Lex found himself face down on the bed, Clark pressed along his naked back. His teeth bit down on the back of Lex's neck just hard enough to make him arch and rub against Clark. As he rubbed, Clark licked the bite mark, soothing the momentary sting as he drew his tongue in a line down Lex's back. "I've learned how sensitive you are when I even touch you here," Clark whispered, dragging his tongue back up Lex's spine. "I see how you shiver when I just brush my arm across your back or put my arm around your neck." Then Clark moved his hands to tease Lex's sides, just almost-feathery strokes of fingertips. "You do this to me all the time when we're sitting together and no one is looking, and it puts me so on the edge because I can't do anything back." 

Lex was fast becoming unable to put two thoughts together. "I thought... I was teaching here," he managed to get out past the wonderful sensations that Clark was evoking in him. 

"You will, Lex, because I'm about at the limit of what I know." Clark blushed, and Lex could feel it burning through his skin. So charming, this mix of innocent boy with teasing vixen. 

"Then stop that and let me calm down," Lex said, rolling out from under his lover. He waited for Clark to drop and then knelt over him. "I have to think here, and you're not making that easy." As Clark watched Lex move over him, he reached out for Lex's cock. His fingers wrapped around the thick shaft and stroked slowly, curiously, as though Clark were exploring Lex's reactions. "Clark," Lex rasped out. "Not... helping me think here." 

Clark didn't stop his teasing touches on Lex's cock. "Why do you have to think to fuck?" 

_Fuck!_ Lex was very sure to keep that thought sub-vocal, but the surge of blood to his cock gave it away. That word from those innocent lips was just too arousing to be ignored. He prayed briefly that Clark hadn't noticed. 

He wasn't that lucky. "Lex?" Clark asked questioningly as the shaft in his hands grew. "Something that you want to tell me?" 

"Not...particularly," he strangled out. He didn't need Clark knowing that he had a little thing for dirty talk. 

Clark's face blushed again as he realized what he'd said that had affected Lex. "Wow. I never knew that would be such a... rush." 

"Can we just--" 

"Nope." Clark's mischievous smile was back in place. He tried hard not to flush as he talked again. "I do want you to fuck me, Lex. You know that nobody else ever has, that I'm all yours, unbroken and fresh." He swallowed hard. "My ass is all yours, Lex, so's my cock... nobody else but me has ever touched--" Clark didn't get to finish as Lex dove in to kiss him. 

As Clark continued talking, the words sounding completely innocent, and that only made it worse for Lex as the sexy talk rolled off Clark's tongue. He had to stop the flow of the words, and he kissed Clark as hard as he could, cutting him off in mid-thought. By the time that Lex broke off, neither remembered the young man's teasing. "You're damn right you're mine," Lex growled. He was pleased to note the wide smile that growled statement brought to Clark's features. He felt Clark's cock throbbing against his stomach and laughed. "I'll teach you all about foreplay later, Clark, but right now, your education is going to begin with a hard fuck that'll make your teeth rattle." 

In response, Clark lifted his legs and laid them over Lex's shoulders. "Is this right?" he whispered. "I've seen it in pictures..." 

Lex ran his hands over Clark's thighs. "Yeah, this is right... so fucking right you wouldn't believe." He leaned over Clark, and was hit in the face with another small reminder of Clark's foreignness; Clark bent with him, knees folded and pressed almost to his chest. When Lex moved back, bottle in hand, Clark moved with him again, and Lex rubbed his legs. "Did I hurt you?" 

"No, never," Clark said, eyes wide with love and desire. "You'll never be able to hurt me, Lex... you love me." 

Lex nearly melted at the trust in Clark's voice, but the steel rod that his cock had become refused to let him. "Yes, I do," he said, and Clark raised up, meeting Lex's kiss halfway. His hands were busy opening the bottle and spreading the vanilla scented oil onto his fingers. One slippery finger moved inside the young man, stretching the tight ring of muscle and gently wiggling inside Clark. At Clark's first press down, Lex broke the kiss and added a second finger, scissoring them to ease the passageway open. "Just one more, Clark, be patient." 

"Hurry, Lex, want to feel you inside me," Clark urged, rocking his body on Lex's fingers. 

Lex couldn't believe the sensations rocketing through his body at the feel of Clark moving against him. With quick motions, he smoothed oil along the length of his cock, positioned it at Clark's opening, and then thrust forward. Clark relaxed himself, pushing down to absorb more and more of Lex inside him, and cried out softly as Lex lunged forward. Suddenly the young man was filled with Lex's erection. "Clark..." 

"No, I'm fine, you feel amazing!" Clark pulled softly on Lex's shoulders with his knees. "C'mon, Lex, move, make love to me." Lex started to thrust inside Clark, long slow strokes that turned quickly to fast pounding as Clark responded to him, pushing up to meet him, his arms twining around Lex's torso. Their bodies met over and over again, rocking slickly together as Clark's cock rubbing against Lex's stomach. "I love you, Lex, love you so much," Clark whispered. "Love the way you feel inside me, never want it to end." Then Clark's entire body shuddered as Lex angled his cock, rubbing against the head of Clark's prostate as the young man whispered his declarations of love to Lex. 

A small voice in the back of Lex's head told him that he had no right to be this happy, that something would happen to take it away from him, but he ignored it, whispering his own words of love back to Clark as their bodies shuddered together, Lex's orgasm triggering Clark's. Afterwards, they lay together, early morning sun streaming in the window to halo their intertwined limbs. 

* * *

Lex lay in bed, thinking of the young man who had left only a few hours ago. Principal Kwan had sent the message for Clark to call home, and Clark had done just that, reassuring his parents that everything was fine and he'd see them later. The school assignments had been delivered to the castle, and Clark took them home with him. Lex looked at the side of the bed Clark had inhabited, and he stretched languidly in the day's dying sunlight. Then the phone rang. 

"Lex Luthor." 

"Meet me at the Beanery, Lex." 

"Clark?" Lex sat up in bed, sheet falling to his thighs. "What's wrong?" 

"I can't... can't get into this, Lex. Meet me at the Beanery. You'll see there. Please, Lex... trust me." 

"I'll be there in twenty minutes." Lex hung up and called for the Ferrari to be brought around front. He dressed in record time, then ran down the steps, collecting his wallet, keys and jacket as they were held out to him, and his Ferrari spun gravel and dust as he took off towards Smallville. 

* * *

It had taken all of Clark's resolve to leave Lex when school was out. Lex tried to make it easy by not asking Clark to stay, but the young man wanted to stay even more because of Lex's strength. But finally, Lex pushed him out the door, and Clark ran all the way home, and stuck his head in the front door of the house. "Mom? Dad? I'm going to do my homework out in the Fortress!" 

"Clark!" Martha called, but her son was already gone. _Enough is enough._ Martha untied the knot in her apron and walked out to the barn, climbing the series of stairs and platforms until she reached Clark's desk. She stopped on the lower landing and looked up; Clark had papers spread out all over the desk, and he didn't even acknowledge her presence. "Clark?" 

Clark was visibly started. "What? Oh, Mom. I gotta... go. I forgot I promised to meet Lana and Whitney at the Beanery, something about the Talon thing." Clark swept all the papers on the desk into an envelope, and then into his backpack. "I'll, uh, get them to give me a ride back." 

He started to run by her, but Martha put her hand on his arm. "Clark... if there's something wrong, if you're having problems..." 

"Not right now, okay, Mom? Please? I just... I gotta go. Trust me." He didn't want for Martha's reply, but ran out like a shot, blurring as he ran towards Smallville. 

* * *

Lex was already at the Beanery when Clark came in. "Clark!" He was shaking, and Lex took him by the wrist and pulled him down. "Clark, what is it?" 

Clark couldn't speak, just for a long moment collapsed beside Lex in the booth. Then with a shaking hand, he dumped the papers out of the envelope. "Is this true, Lex?" 

Lex used the hand not clamped around Clark's wrist to spread the papers out. He knew he paled, because Clark turned and broke Lex's grip on him to slip an arm around his waist. Everything that he was seeing here was turning everything he'd ever known about his life upside down. "Clark... where did you... get this?" 

"It was in the barn, in my special place, the Fortress," Clark explained. "Just a plain brown envelope, and then when I opened it up... all this." He pointed to one picture. "That's my father, but I don't know the woman." 

Lex touched the photo lightly with one finger. "That's Saint Alexandra, my father's sister," Lex whispered. "There's this huge portrait of her in his office. He talked to it all the time when I was a kid." The photograph was clipped to a birth certificate, the father's name left blank but the mother's name... Alexandra Catarina Luthor. And then... "oh my God." 

"Lex... is this... what I think it's saying?" Clark picked up the photocopy of the birth certificate, along with his father's picture. "You're..." 

"Not Lionel's son," Lex whispered, near silence. "I'm Alexandra's son." Lex's hands were suddenly unsteady as he sorted through the papers and came up with two sheets of clear film covered in black bar sequences. "Whoever did this, Clark... they were thorough." He held up two DNA profiles, and laid a third on the table. "This one is mine... this one is Alexandra's... and this one... belongs to Jonathan Kent." He read over the profiles and the results, referring back to the films numerous times, as though checking the results for himself. "According to these tests..." Lex put the papers and films down and looked over at Clark. "Jonathan Kent is my biological father." 

"My... father is your father?" Clark's hand was almost hurting Lex--would have hurt another human but it was just beginning to be painful for Lex. He shook his arm and Clark eased his grip a fraction, but it was enough. "There's... it's not possible, Lex. My father... he wouldn't have left you with Lionel if he'd known." 

Lex's bark of laughter was sharp, bitter, and full of pain. "Deep in my heart, Clark, I always envied you the family that you had, and now... well, let's be honest Clark. Both my fathers hate me." Lex's fingers dug into the table, and Clark covered them with his own. 

"Lex, come on, let's go... somewhere. Just get out of here, somewhere we can talk. Somewhere we can be alone, I need to hold you, Lex." 

Lex shook his head. "This changes all of that, Clark, don't you see? This makes us brothers." 

Clark looked horrified. "No, Lex. No. We--I'm adopted, Lex, in case you haven't noticed." 

Lex shook his head mournfully, cursing himself for not listening to his inner voice this morning. "That doesn't matter, Clark. If this gets out, no one will ever let us be together, ever again." He touched Clark's cheek softly. "I'm sorry." 

"Then we'll bury this, Lex, bury it so far down that it never comes to light." Clark was beginning to get agitated. "Nobody will ever know about this, Lex, and it doesn't change a single thing for me, doesn't change how I feel about you, doesn't change how much I love you." 

Lex pulled his hands from Clark and shuffled all the papers and DNA films back into the envelope. "Come on. We're going to talk to Jonathan." 

"Lex! Wait!" Clark followed and caught up with Lex. Looking around and thanking God that the Beanery was uncharacteristically deserted, Clark slid his arm around Lex's waist and pulling him close. "Don't leave without me, please." 

"I wouldn't, Clark." Lex wrapped his arm around Clark's waist as they walked the few steps from the Beanery door to the Ferrari together. 

"Lex, are you okay to drive?" 

"I can handle the car, Clark, I promise not to drive off any bridges between here and your house." 

"I love you, Lex." Clark flicked his eyes over the street quickly before planting a quick kiss on Lex's mouth, and then got into the passenger side of the car. 

Lex handed him the envelope and then walked to the driver's side. Uneasy, he looked up and down the streets, his eyes skipping over the black sedan parked across from them. Shaking the feeling off, Lex got into the car and cranked the engine, then looked at Clark. "I love you, Clark, never forget that." He leaned over the stick shift, and Clark met him halfway, sharing a longer kiss this time. 

* * *

From across the road, Lionel watched Lex and Clark together from the black sedan. In the seat beside him lay a double-barrel shotgun, loaded and racked. As soon as the Ferrari pulled out into traffic, Lionel followed until he knew for sure they were heading towards the Kent farm. Then he turned off onto one of the other roads and parked along the shoulder. Lionel walked to the trunk and opened the locked box that sat on top of the spare tire. In the velvet-lined box lay the pistol that he'd used to threaten Jonathan and Lexa so many years ago. Lionel reverently held the pistol up to the moon. "Once again, my friend, we go to save the Luthor bloodline from the Kent bastards," he whispered. "We will save Lex from himself and from the dilution of his blood... just like we saved my precious, precious Lexa." He slipped his hand under the velvet and pulled out a lock of red hair, bound with a white silk ribbon. Lexa's hair. Lionel rubbed the lock over his cheek and then kissed it softly. "Don't worry, my precious, we will take care of Lex." He rubbed the lock over his cheek one more time and then pressed it to his lips again before safely tucking it back in the box. He tucked the pistol into his pants pocket and filled the pockets of his suit coat with shotgun shells. Reaching through the driver's side window, Lionel pulled out the shotgun and headed across the cornfields for the Kent farm. 

* * *

Lex steered the Ferrari through the back roads without hesitation, Clark's hand comforting on his thigh. He'd been here far too many times to not know the way, and his mind was racing with all the new information that he'd acquired. He was Jonathan Kent's son, which would have invalidated his love for Clark except... Clark was adopted. His beautiful angel adopted by the man who'd fathered Lex. _I'm still a Luthor, only that bastard is no longer my father. And my mother--God, she will always be my mother. But Alexandra, Lionel's precious goddess, the woman who gave birth to me... and Jonathan! I wanted so much for him to accept me as good enough for his son and now... I have to hope he finds me worthy to be his son!_ Lex couldn't hold back the hysterical laughter that thought brought along with it. He slammed on the brakes and turned the ignition off, laughing until tears ran down his face. 

Clark was stricken by Lex's laughter, heavily laden with hysteria, and as soon as the car stopped, Clark wrapped his arms around Lex and held tightly, disregarding the gear stick that pressed into his thigh. "Lex? Are you all right?" 

"No, I'm not," Lex said, resting his face against Clark's shirt as the laughter died down to giggles. "I just realized how ludicrous this entire situation is. If it were anyone else I wouldn't believe it." 

Clark tenderly touched the back of Lex's head, stroking it lovingly. "We'll make it through this, Lex, I swear to you. Even if... even if we have to leave Smallville. We'll go to Metropolis. Or Gotham. Anywhere that we can be together, Lex." 

Lex looked up at Clark, drying his hysterical tears on the young man's shirt. "You'd leave everything behind for me, Clark?" 

"Not for you, Lex, for us. For what we have together." Clark's face was earnest when he looked down at Lex. "I've never met anyone like you, Lex, and sometimes it's scary when I think how much you've changed me and changed my life. But then I realize how much you care about me and love me, because even though you don't always say it you show it, and I'm not scared anymore. I'm not going to let that slip through our fingers, Lex. How often does this happen in your life?" 

"Almost never," Lex whispered. "I never thought I'd find it." 

"We found it together," Clark emphasized. "And I'll do anything that it takes to keep us from losing it." 

Lex sat in the driver's side silently, collecting himself as he held tightly to Clark's hand. Then he dropped it back to his thigh and started the car again, making the last leg of the trip to the Kent farm in warm silence. 

Once he pulled into the long driveway, he switched off his headlights and drove in darkness to park in front of the porch. Clark and Lex shared one last kiss, deep and sweet, before getting out and walking onto the porch. They barely got three steps before the porch light came on and Jonathan came out. "Clark! What is going on with you? Martha tells me you tore out of here like a tornado, and now you're bringing him home with you?" 

Clark moved to stand in front of Lex. "We need to talk to you, Dad. There's a lot of stuff we found out tonight that you need to know." 

Jonathan studied the way his son stood protectively in front of Lex, the glint of steel that had come into his eyes when Jonathan challenged them, and the boy's stance--arms crossed over his chest, Lex's hand on his shoulder, legs braced apart. As though he were expecting an attack from his own father. "Come on in, then." 

Lex left his hand on Clark's shoulder. "Are you sure that was wise, Clark?" 

"I won't let anyone hurt you anymore, Lex." Clark held the screen door open and Lex followed Jonathan in, taking the envelope from Clark in passing. The last one in, Clark shut the door and then stood at Lex's right hand. 

Martha looked from her son to Lex to Jonathan, her hands wringing slightly before she cleared her throat, breaking the awkward silence. "Come on, we'll sit at the table here. I was just making coffee, and it should be ready soon." 

Lex made the next move by taking off his jacket and folding it over the back of his chair. "Thank you, Mrs. Kent. Mr. Kent, I'm sorry to drop in unexpectedly like this, considering that I'm not your favorite person, but some things have come to my attention that we need to discuss." _Mr. Kent. Jonathan. Dad. Father. Pops._

Jonathan flicked his eyes to Clark. "What things?" 

"Don't worry, I know about Clark, and that's not why I'm here." 

A china saucer clattered at the sink and Clark raced over, catching the cup before it broke on the metal basin. Jonathan's eyes stared accusingly at Lex. "How did you find out?" 

"I told him, Dad. The night of my birthday party at the castle." Clark carefully sat the saucer and cup down on the sideboard and put his hand reassuringly on his mother's shoulder. 

"Was that your price for the party, Luthor?" 

"Call me Lex, please. And no, I had no price for that party. That was my gift to Clark." Lex was feeling unwanted by every member of the family except Clark, and was almost ready to take the young man up on his offer to leave. _How does Bora-Bora sound, Clark? Tahiti is always nice this time of year..._

"Dad, stop it. I told Lex because I wanted him to know before we started our relationship." Clark came back to where Jonathan and Lex were facing off over the kitchen table and took the chair beside Lex, forcing both his lover and his father to sit down instead of standing. Lex sat down beside Clark, and immediately the young man reached for Lex's hand under the table, laced their fingers together, and then brought their linked hands to rest on the table. "I love Lex, I trust him, and I'm going to be with him." 

Jonathan was almost ready to order Lex out of his house when Martha's hand landed on his shoulder. She leaned over and whispered one thought into her husband's ear. "Do you want to be Lionel, Jonathan?" 

Jonathan was quiet for a long moment as he remembered throwing pebbles at Lexa's window, holding her in his arms and making sweet love to her. Then, the train station with Lionel and the silver pistol. The letter Lexa sent him, begging his forgiveness, telling of Lionel's obsession with her and her fear for her life. But by the time he'd come back to Metropolis for her, he'd been too late, and she'd died. He'd laid violets on her grave every week for months, until he'd met Martha. "No," he said softly. "I never want to be like Lionel Luthor." 

"Then listen," she pled with him. "Clark's a good boy, Jonathan. You reminded me of that today. You told me to trust him. Now its your turn." 

Jonathan took a deep breath and then kissed Martha's hand on his shoulder. "All right, Luth--Lex. What is this you just have to share with me?" 

In answer, Lex opened the envelope and pulled out the birth certificate photocopy and the photograph. He slid them across the table for Jonathan to see. 

Jonathan's hands shook as he saw Lexa in the photograph, and he dropped the birth certificate as soon as he saw Lex's name on it. "This... this is sick, Lex," Jonathan hissed. "What kind of game--" 

"This is no game, Mr. Kent." Lex's voice cracked. "I just found out a couple hours ago." 

"It's fake." 

"There's more here," Lex said, sliding the DNA films. "This is Alexandra's. This is yours. And this is mine." He put all three of them together, and Jonathan could see for himself where their genetic code matched to create Lex's. 

"No," Jonathan said in a shocked whisper, dropping the films as though they were burning him. Martha was steadfastly silent, the rock that Jonathan needed as he held her tightly. "No." 

Clark and Lex exchanged a long look, and Clark lifted their hands enough to lightly touch his lips to Lex's knuckles in reassurance. Lex pulled out the third piece of evidence--adoption papers naming Lionel and his wife the parents of Lexa's fatherless child. He slid those across to the elder Kents. Jonathan looked at them with distrust, fear and shock, like the papers were a poison snake, ready to strike. Finally it was Martha who picked up the adoption records and put them in Jonathan's hands. "How did you get these, Lex?" 

"They were left for me, Mom," Clark said quietly. "Out in the Fortress. On my desk. As soon as I found them, I called Lex." 

Jonathan flinched. Lex had been his son's first choice of confidant. And then, an awful realization came over Jonathan, and it made him sick to his stomach. Lex was his son. His and Lexa's. "Why didn't she tell me?" he whispered. "Oh, God, Lexa, why didn't you tell me?" 

The blast of a shotgun shattered the hood over the stove. "Don't ever mention Alexandra's name again, you bastard." 

* * *

Lionel crossed the cornfields in a hurry, mowing down rows of corn as he cut a path through the vegetation and came to the Kent farm. The porch light was on, and everyone was huddled around the kitchen table. Through the window, Lionel watched as Lex doled out the contents of the envelope. 

This was not going as planned. 

This was supposed to drive Kent away from Lex, not bring them together to Jonathan's. As the farm boy kissed Lex's knuckles, Lionel felt his gorge rising, much as it had twenty years ago when he'd watched Lexa writhing and moaning under Jonathan Kent. As soon as he heard Jonathan uttering Lexa's name, Lionel shot wildly through the window and ran to the front door. "Don't ever mention Alexandra's name again, you bastard." 

Jonathan and Martha were behind the table, and Clark was standing in front of Lex. "Put the gun down, Dad," Lex said, stepping to the side of Clark. "Give me the shotgun." 

"No, Lex, I'm going to save you from this, just like I saved my precious Alexandra. Only I won't lose you like I did her, no. I hate you for killing her when you were born, but I love you because you're the only part of her I have left." Lionel swung the shotgun over to Clark. "I should have killed your father, Kent, and then you would never have been born." 

"Clark!" Martha screamed, and Jonathan pressed her face into his shoulder, his chest tight and his breath hitching. Not even their son could withstand double barrels. Lex launched himself towards his father but it was too late. Lionel had already pulled the trigger, and the full bore of both barrels hit Clark in the chest. 

And fell harmlessly to the ground. Clark headed for Lionel, intent on taking the shotgun away. Shocked, Lionel dropped the shotgun and grabbed Lex around the throat, putting the silver pistol to his head. Lex put his hands on his father's chest and tried to push himself free, but to no avail. Instead his hands found shotgun shells, and he quickly pilfered two shells and hid them in his hand. "Back off... freak. I should have known there was something about you, Kent," Lionel hissed at the teen. 

"Lex!" Clark's heart poured out in that single word. 

"I'll be all right, Clark." Lex was calm, and he dropped his eyes to the shotgun. Then opened his hand to reveal two shells for the gun. 

Clark moved in a burst of super speed, too fast for Lionel to follow. In mere instants, the shotgun appeared in Lex's hands while Clark jerked Lionel away from Lex. The silver pistol shot wildly, breaking the window over the sink as Clark shot back to Lex's side. Jonathan had pulled the young Luthor down behind the overturned kitchen table while Clark faced the furious Lionel. "Lex, what are you doing?" 

"Taking care of this problem, Mr. Kent." Calmly, Lex chambered the shells of the shotgun and expertly racked back the slide. He rose to his feet. "Clark, get down. Dad... drop the gun." Instead of getting down, Clark moved to crouch in front of Lex, using his body to create a bulletproof barrier for his lover. Lex used both hands to aim the shotgun at Lionel Luthor. "I said put the gun down, Dad." 

"I'm not your father, Lex, don't you dare call me that to my face," Lionel hissed. "I only allowed it as long as you didn't know. But now you know." 

"It was you," Lex marveled as he saw Lionel point the pistol at him. He could feel Clark tensing in front him, heard Martha's quiet whimpers, and Jonathan's stunned silence. "You were the one who left those things here for Clark to find." 

"And they said you weren't smart enough to be a Luthor," Lionel sneered. "Yes, it was me. I did it." Lionel transferred his rage to Clark once again. "And you, you ignorant backwater farm boy, you were supposed to be sickened and disgusted by the thought of making love to your own brother!" 

"Did you forget that Clark was adopted, Lionel?" Lex wondered inwardly at how easy it was to stop thinking of this man as his father, how easy it was to hold the gun on him. "Don't do this." 

"He's right, Lionel, there's no reason to do this." Jonathan got up from behind the kitchen table, hands raised as he came to stand beside Lex. "You've gotten everything that you've ever wanted, Lionel. You got her love, you got her child, you got her life. Everything that you denied to me, you got instead. You won, Lionel." 

Lionel's face twisted into a mask of hatred. "I won? You have no idea, Jonathan, no idea at all!" Once more the focus of his rage was deflected. "Because of you, Lexa hated me until the day that she died giving birth to that bastard! Her dying words to me were hate you! Because of you, Kent, I never had my Lexa back!" Lionel swung the pistol from Lex to Jonathan, and two shots rang out at the same time. 

Clark deflected the bullet meant to end his father's life as the two shells from Lex's shotgun impacted Lionel's chest and threw him back through the door and onto the porch. Martha screamed again, and Jonathan held her tightly, once more shielding her from seeing Lionel's dead body. Clark caught Lex's shotgun as it fell from his fingers and wrapped his arms around his stunned lover. "Clark... what did I do?" 

"Saved your father's life," Clark whispered, and then Lex was pulled out of his arms. 

Jonathan Kent wrapped his arms around his son, and pulled the unresisting young man into a hug. Lex returned the fierce embrace, finally knowing what it was like to have a father. 

* * *

Martha called the police, and the four Kents sat on the couch together, Clark and Jonathan each with an arm around Lex's shoulders as Martha fretted over all of them. All four of them agreed to tell the truth--as much of it as the police needed to know. That Lex and Clark had come here to tell Jonathan and Martha about their relationship. Lionel had followed, psychotic, threatening Clark and his family if he didn't leave Lex alone. Lionel had tried to shoot Jonathan when Jonathan tried to talk to him, and to save Jonathan's life, Lex had shot Lionel. 

The secret of Lex's paternity was hidden in the storm cellar, tucked into Clark's pod and locked safely away. 

Everyone gave the same statement to the officers questioning them, after the body had been photographed and been taken away their statements had been returned to them for their signatures. The sheriff assured the distraught Luthor heir that there would be an investigation, but considering the circumstances, it was likely no charges would be filed against him. 

Lex nodded and said the appropriate things, and then called Dominic to let him know what had happened--the sanitized version. The public relations people went into overdrive, demonizing the deceased Lionel Luthor as a cold, unfeeling man who had cared more for his name than for his son's life. Which, Lex reflected, was totally true. 

* * *

"Jonathan--" 

"Lex, I'm... I don't know what to say. I've always... the sins of the father." 

"I understand," Lex said. Clark was sitting on the back of the couch, massaging Lex's shoulders as Jonathan sat across from him. Martha sat on the arm of Jonathan's chair, her arm around her husband. "I think it's safer for all of us if my true paternity stays between the four of us. It could bring unwanted attention onto all of us--including Clark." His hands went to squeeze those of his lover, and Clark leaned forward and kissed the top of Lex's head. "Not to mention the scandal of the possible incestual--" 

Jonathan held his hand up. "Please. I know where you're going." In fact he'd already had the same thought when he'd seen Clark hovering over Lex earlier. "I think you're right. Especially with Clark's adoption... the less attention brought to bear on it the better. But Lex... you proved me wrong tonight. I always thought you were just like Lionel. Instead..." 

The corners of Lex's mouth quirked. "Instead I turned out like my father would have wanted?" 

"A lot like he would have wanted." The same quirk turned up the corners of Jonathan's. "Lex--I haven't always been as nice to you as I could have been. But I'd like to change that." 

The pleased surprise that was etched on Lex's face caused Clark to smile at his dad. "I'd like that too, Jonathan." 

"I don't suppose... you could call me Dad?" Jonathan asked wistfully, and Martha hugged her spouse. 

Lex flicked his eyes up at Clark who nodded. "I'd love to... Dad." 

Jonathan smiled widely, and for a long moment, he was speechless. "You're welcome in our house anytime... son." 

Lex's eyes shimmered from unshed tears. The unexpected unconditional acceptance of the Kents was making Lex shake. "I'd... I'd love that." 

Jonathan shooed Clark away and sat on the couch beside Lex, putting an arm around his shoulder and tugged. Lex let his head rest on his father's shoulder, and silent tears ran down his cheeks. 

The End 


End file.
